Image credit: dvdverdict.com

Last night I watched the movie Away We Go, starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. It’s a lovely movie, and I really enjoyed it, but it wasn’t just the story that impressed me — I learned via the special features that the crew who worked on this movie made sure to make the shoot as green as possible.

You can imagine what a movie set looks like — cameras everywhere, big generators keeping the power supply running, people drinking water, screens set up to establish the lighting. Film sets have historically been very wasteful places; I imagine that’s largely due to the pressure of getting things right, and being green takes a backseat to getting things done. Not in this case. Take a look at some of the green decisions made by this film crew:

• Biodiesel fuel was used for energy.
• Actors, the director, and other people on set were driven from location to location in hybrid vehicles.
• Plastic water bottles were eliminated from the set, and everyone was given a reusable bottle that they could refill from canteens.
• More than half the meals served on set came from local and/or organic sources.
• Most of the set’s waste was composted rather than tossed into the trash.
• Meals were not served with reusable silverware, but they did the next best thing: They used disposable utensils made of organic, biodegradable corn- and sugar-based substances.

Hollywood is a big business to change, what with the sheer amount of equipment and energy it takes to bring us the entertainment we love. According to the cast and crew members who were interviewed on this short special feature for the Away We Go DVD, going green was not that big a deal. Everything they needed was still there, it was just there in a slightly different and more responsible way. Considering how many films out there carry a green message, it’s nice to see Hollywood practicing what it preaches in this case.

If a small, independent movie like Away We Go can do it, so can other movie sets. I really hope this sort of thing catches on.